


Earth Rumble LXXXVI

by Writerleft



Series: Comes Marching Home [48]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F, Humor, Mostly Fluff, Secret Santa 2017, Wrestling, got as close as i could, was supposed to be mma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 04:11:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13138809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writerleft/pseuds/Writerleft
Summary: Eighty years ago, a mysterious wanderer defeated the Blind Bandit in Earth Rumble VI. Will an equally mysterious challenger fare as well in this earthbending championship? And what, exactly, is she wearing, anyway?





	Earth Rumble LXXXVI

**Author's Note:**

> A Secret Santa gift for [lady-bender ](https://lady-bender.tumblr.com/)on tumblr! She likes mma, 80s fashion, Korean fashion, and fluff... I couldn't get Korean fashion in there, and I realize this isn't really MMA style fighting, but the opportunity from the show was too real not to use. I hope she likes it--and the rest of you, too!

“So, Asami,” Korra said, lounging in the seat beside her in the cockpit of their airship. “Fun fact. I know it's not where we're going, but we're actually pretty close to Gaoling.”

“Is that so?” Asami said, smirking on the side Korra couldn't see. She clearly wanted to tell her something, but Asami was going to play coy. “I've heard they've become quite the little industrial center.”

“Who cares about that!”

Asami raised an eyebrow at her.

“...compared to what you've done in Republic City, I mean,” Korra said, grinning and hands up to defend herself.

Asami rolled her eyes. “Alright, out with it. What makes Gaoling special?”

“It's where the Beifongs come from! Originally, before Zaofu.”

Asami perked up. “Oh! As in, where Avatar Aang first met Toph?”

“Yeah... by challenging her at one of the first Earth Rumbles!”

“Earth...” Asami started, but Korra unfolded a poster. Asami took it, frowning. “Earth Rumble LXXXVI?”

Korra nodded excitedly, pointing at the date. “It's tomorrow! And we're ahead of schedule.”

Asami chuckled. “Is it anything like Pro Bending? It could be fun to watch.”

“It's... not like Pro Bending, no...” Korra said, poking her forefingers together and looking innocent.

“You want to enter it?!”

“It's not like there isn't precedent!” Korra insisted. In fact, it's Avatar tradition!”

“One Avatar having done it doesn't make it a tradition, Korra.”

“Do you not want me to?”

“Now, I didn't say that,” Asami chuckled. “But I don't want this to become a big thing. If we do this, there's no press. No attention. Nothing.”

“It's... kinda hard not to get some attention, when you're lobbing boulders at each other.”

“Perhaps,” Asami said, running her mind through what supplies they had aboard and how they could be repurposed. “But that's only if people _know_ they're watching the Avatar.” Finally, Asami chuckled. “I'm gonna land nearby—the airship's a giveaway—and we'll get you ready.”

“Ready... how?”

“Remember that biker gang we fought for the Earth Queen?”

 

–

  


“Will this wash out?” Korra asked, poking at the rigid orange crest of hair, standing as high as her hand was long. “I don't think I want a bright hair fin forever.”

“Sure,” Asami answered, as they took their place near near the front. Not the first few, heavily-cratered rows, those weren't particularly safe, but near enough. It's not like Korra would let anything hit them. “At least, as well as the skin paint.”

“That's... not a very clear answer.”

“Relax, mysterious earthbender,” Asami said, her own hair collected by a sweatband around her forehead. “You're getting plenty of looks, but nobody's recognizing you.”

“This sure beats yellow ponchos,” Korra agreed, adjusting the collar on her black leather jacket. Her worker's pants were torn up at the knees, and generally she looked like somebody President Beifong would call a 'hooligan.' Which made sense, considering the street gang they'd stolen it all from.

Korra may have looked hard-edged and just a little ridiculous, but at least her disguise wasn't a visual assault like Asami's was. These new 'neon' pigments Varrick had come up with were a bit of a fad, and Asami's getup was the most garish clash of colors she'd ever seen. Pink, orange, teal, all jumbled together asymmetrically on an oversized coat that went to her knees...

Yeah, Mako and Bolin could be sitting the next row down and not recognize them.

“You don't think this whole thing is ridiculous?” Korra asked.

Asami chuckled, and kissed her. “Of course it is. But if we can't carve out some space for the ridiculous in our lives, really, what's the point?”

Korra grinned, just as announcer's voice boomed: “GAOLING! WELCOME TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND OF YOUR EARTH! RUMBLE! EIGHTY! SIIIIIIIIIX!”

Asami plugged her ears against the roar as Korra screamed beside her.

 

–

 

Pro Bending had been fun and all, but if _this_ had been the sport she'd come across in Republic City, she may never have stopped playing.

Sure, the first few rounds had a lot of theatrics—Captain Avalanche seemed like a crowd favorite, while Scarlet Lotus was clearly played up as a villain—but as the bouts wore on, more and more honest technique was on display. While the colorful characters' fights could take several minutes, with lots of trash talking, the fights between them were short, brutal affairs, that reminded Korra quite a bit of the underground fighting she'd done while walking the world. Those were the ones that got Korra leaning forward and watching close—and the ones she caught Asami cheering for, too.

The one ranging right now was one of those, and the best of the night so far. The two men facing off couldn't look more different. One was wiry, stalking around the arena with and a hard look in his eye, sending probing attacks from a distance. His opponent was stocky, holding his ground, absorbing a few glancing hits rather than shift his stance.

Finally, the bigger man shifted, barreling forward with high knee and elbow thrusts that each sent head-sized hunks of stone right at his foe. Thin-man wove between most of them, punching one head on into a spray of sand—which he then flicked his wrist to propel back the way the rock had come.

The bigger man raised a hand to shield his face, then staggered as an earth disk smashed into his knees. He fell, but rather than simply hit the ground, he rolled, somersaulting and bringing a flurry of earth spikes up with him.

The recovery caught the other bender off-guard, and he brought up an wall to protect himself. Korra smirked at his little gasp, and wasn't in the least surprised when the bigger bender kicked the little wall, and the man who made it, right out of the arena.

Asami *tsked* beside her as the crowd cheered. “He practically gift wrapped himself!”

Korra chuckled. “If you're defending, you're losing, right?”

Asami nodded firmly.

“AAAND NOW!” the announcer boomed as badger moles tidied the ring. “IN A TRADITION AS OLD AS THE EARTH RUMBLE ITSELF…”

“Here comes my queue…” Korra said, her muscles coiling and ready to spring.

“...WE OPEN THE TOURNAMENT TO CHALLENGERS! NOT SINCE RUMBLE XXIX HAS A CHALLENGER LASTED EVEN A SIIIIIINGLE ROUND, BUT PERHAPS THIS IS THE YEAR?”

“THIS IS THE YEAR!” Korra announced, though there was no way the announcer heard her from the ring. But he sure noticed her blasting a stone column underneath herself, sailing across the gap, somersaulting in the air, then sending shock waves through the arena with her landing. “I ACCEPT THE CHALLENGE!”

“OHO! A COLORFUL LADY EARTHBENDER!” He didn’t seem shocked, but he looked her over skeptically. He turned away from the microphone for a moment, whispering to her, “you got a stage name, there?”

Korra blinked. “Um… lady...bender… er…”

“Seriously? You gotta have something better than that!”

“My name doesn’t matter!”

He rolled his eyes. “Sure, make it hard on me, fine. You know the rules?”

Korra nodded, and the announcer returned to his mic. “LET’S SEE HOW LONG THE LADY BENDER LASTS, FOLKS! HER FIRST OPPONENT: THE PLANT CHIIIIILLLLLD!”

  


\--

  


It had only taken a couple of rounds for the mysterious newcomer to become a crowd favorite. Asami cheered louder than any of them, her throat ragged and her voice hoarse, as Korra tore through champion after champion, sometimes with brutal efficiency, sometimes with a theatrical flare that Asami recognized as her wife’s impression of Bolin.

The announcer didn’t know what to make of all this. Clearly it was disrputing the narrative he’d wanted to tell, but as much as Korra was playing too the crowd--and how successfully--he had to continue with it.

Korra was parading around the arena, hands in the air, as her previous opponent was helped escorted away. She locked eyes on Asami--as always, they could spot each other immediately--and blew her a theatrical kiss.

Asami pretended to catch it, then held it against her chest. Applause and laughter rippled from around her, and Asami spotted a few jealous looks from other women--the “Lady Bender” indeed!

“FOLKS, THIS IS TRULY A RUMBLE FOR THE AGES. LADY BENDER IS ONLY THREE MATCHES AWAY FROM THE CHAMPION, AND THE WAY SHE’S BEEN FIGHTING, I THINK SHE JUST MIGHT MAKE IT! NOT SINCE THE UPSET DEFEAT OF THE BLIND BANDIT EIGHTY YEARS AGO HAS A CHAMPION BEEN DEFEATED THIS WAY!”

Murmurs of Toph’s name bubbled through the crowd. Asami bit her lip--some people were talking about Avatar Aang, too. Hopefully, nobody dwelled on that particular comparison too long…

Korra strode up to the microphone. “MAYBE WE COULD BRING _HER_ OUT OF RETIREMENT! I’M STILL WAITING FOR A CLOSE MATCH!”

Asami snorted, and part of her wishes Toph _would_ show up. Cocky Korra was a lot of fun, but she was even cuter when she sulked after being embarrassed--and that old woman might just be able to beat her, still.

“OUR NEXT CHAMPION IS READY TO GIVE IT A TRY!” the announcer said. “SHE’S COMING OFF A FANTASTIC 16-0 SEASON, AND THIRSTY FOR THAT BELT! NO CHATTING, NO THEATRICS, AND ALL PAIN, IT’S BAAAAAAAAI WIN!”

Korra turned to face her confidently, and Asami immediately knew something was wrong. Korra froze, looking at the newcomer. Asami frowned, looking her over--muscular, sure, with a tight pony tail and a no-nonsense stance, but she was hardly Kuvira or anything. What was wrong?

Korra grabbed the announcer before he could retreat. They exchanged a few terse words. The announcer shook his head, Korra insisted, and finally he shrugged and held up two fingers to her. She was in the air, arcing toward Asami before he even announced the brief requested time out.

Asami caught her, stroking--well, not her hair, since it was still all rigid and upright, but her scalp at least. All the blood had drained from her face. “What’s wrong?”

Korra clutched her shoulders tight, struggling to breathe. “I’ve fought her before. When I was traveling the world, I got caught up in some underground fighting. I fought her, but I _saw_ myself. And I lost. It wasn’t even close.”

Asami steadied herself. “It’s okay, Korra. You’ve had your fun, and nobody knows this is you. You can forfeit--”

“I’d never stop regretting that!” Korra said, almost desperate.

“Do you see any visions now?” Asami asked, looking at the woman as she stretched, as if she might see Korra’s hallucinations, too.

Korra shook her head. “My heart’s pounding though. Spirits, Asami, I hate this!”

Asami leaned in to kiss her. The crowd seemed to like that--and Korra did too.

“Let’s just say _that_ is what got your heart pounding,” Asami said. “K… Lady Bender, I understand why you don’t want to go. But just know that, whatever happens, I’m so, so proud of you. You’re here to fight earthbenders, not yourself. That’s a whole different affair.”

“LADY BENDER, YOUR TIME OUT IS ALMOST UP!”

Korra swallowed, resting her forehead against Asami. She took deep breaths. “Do you think I can do this?”

“I know you can do this.”

“Tell me again.”

She touched Korra’s cheek, looking her in the eye. “I love you. And you got this. Now go kick her ass.”

Korra chuckled, eyes a little wide at Asami's rare curse. “Okay,” she said. “Okay.”

“LADY BENDER!

She clutched Asami’s face, and kissed her HARD, dipping her until Asami couldn’t even keep her footing. Whistles and cheers erupted, thundering like her pulse, before Korra pulled back with a grin, and vaulted back into the fray.

She strode to her opponent, and offered her hand. They exchanged some words as they shook them, then separated.

Korra overwhelmed her with a four-pronged attack as soon as the bell sounded.

The other woman was _good_. She was already moving as Korra struck, dodging three and redirecting the forth, but she was on the defensive. Korra launched a flurry of spikes at her, but she spiraled low to the ground, spinning a wave of shattered stone in Korra’s way.

Asami bit her lip, her heart in her throat. Her fingers dug into her hideous neon jacket.

This wasn’t the same Lady Bender who’d been fighting the whole night, but Korra kept her head. She dropped Bolin’s theatrics, but kept his footwork, bounding around and making herself a harder target to pin down. Her opponent--what had her name been?--looked frustrated, but stayed calm.

A fist of rock struck Korra in the midsection, arcing her back toward the edge. Asami gasped, the other bender pressed the attack--then Korra pivoted in the air, flipping a hand down to scrape the arena floor. Instantly, a spray of sand and dust obscured the oncoming fighter’s path, but Korra landed, her eyes shut, then spun, then kicked a single stone into the cloud.

The other bender sailed out the other side, flopping onto her back.

The crowd erupted in the loudest cheer yet, such that the fight-ending bell was drowned out. Korra rushed to the other fighter’s side, though, kneeling beside her to see if she was alright. She was clutching her rib, but nodding. Korra helped her up.

Asami settled back into her seat. She let out a breath, which was followed by a sob. She’d done it. Afraid as she was, painful as the memories were...

Asami cried, and missed the last two fights.

By the time she got herself back together, Korra was stomping around the arena, holding a gigantic golden belt high above her head. That was the victory she’d come for, but Asami knew which victory truly counted tonight.

She rose, Korra’s eyes already on her. The victorious ‘Lady Bender’ kicked the ground, shooting a bridge from the arena to the stands right in front of Asami, allowing her to cross while the announcer went on and on and the crowd screamed and Asami heard none of it, saw none of it. She strode up to Korra with her dyed skin and ridiculous hair, and Korra’s arms fell, trailing the prize belt along the ground as she stepped, then ran into Asami’s embrace.

They kissed, cameras flashing all around, the cheers shaking the ground beneath them like a small earthquake, like a rolling explosion.

Asami didn’t tell Korra how proud she was of her. Not in words.

Korra felt it. Korra knew. “Time to go?” Korra asked, arms around Asami’s back.

Asami nodded, arms around Korra’s neck. She took a firm grip, and tilted her head up at the ceiling.

Korra grinned, tightened her arm around Asami’s waist, gave the announcer a little salute, and vaulted them both to the rafters.  
  
  


  
_Fanart courtesy of[thesilentpotato](http://thesilentpotato.tumblr.com/post/175656221038) _

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Leave a kudos if you liked it enough to read to the end, and/or a comment if anything really made you smile. :D Also, [visit my Tumblr ](http://www.tumblr.com/blog/threehoursfromtroy/)if you like for nonstop Korrasami madness!


End file.
